$4.8 MILLION GRANT TO DEVELOP LITHIUM-ION BATTERY RECYCLING TECHNOLOGY

Date

6.6.2024

$4.8 MILLION GRANT TO DEVELOP LITHIUM-ION BATTERY RECYCLING TECHNOLOGY

MONTREAL, QC, December 17, 2019 – This is a nonofficial translation of the press release published Tuesday, December 10, 2019

Montreal (Anjou), December 10, 2019 – The Government of Quebec is proud to grant financial assistance of $4,842,000 to Lithion Recycling Inc. for its Lion project, which will develop a technology for recycling lithium-ion batteries. Jonatan Julien, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources and Minister responsible for the Côte-Nord region, made the announcement earlier this afternoon with Chantal Rouleau, Minister of Transport and Minister responsible for the Greater Montreal Area. They took the opportunity to visit Lithion’s pilot plant, currently under construction in the metropolitan region. The overall cost of the Lion project is in the order of $12 million.

An Innovative Technology

Currently there are few environmentally-friendly options for recycling lithium-ion (LiB) batteries. As part of the Lion project, a patent-pending process has been developed using a range of innovative technologies. The demonstration project’s objective is to test a technology that can safely recycle all types of lithium-ion batteries, regardless of chemistry and size, and to recover valuable materials at a high level of purity.

The process has been designed to reduce emissions and residue and to maximize the quality of recovered materials in order to achieve an economically viable, efficient, and environmentally-beneficial technology. This new technology ultimately aims to recover high quality materials that can be returned to industry to produce new batteries.

Quotes:

“I am delighted to support this innovative project. The technology used by Lithion will give a resource a second life, which aligns with the reflection we have just begun on Quebec’s role in developing critical and strategic minerals. The financial assistance granted will thus promote the implementation of a circular economy project that will contribute to the energy transition and transportation electrification. Decarbonizing our economy while generating wealth is one of our priority objectives.”

– Jonatan Julien, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, Minister responsible for the Côte-Nord region

“Montreal is an innovative metropolis where we are implementing all the tools for promoting economic development within the perspective of ecological transition. It’s a joy to see the Lithion Recycling pilot project come to life in the East of Montreal, a territory that is a priority for our government, revitalizing it and once again unleashing its immense potential.”

– Chantal Rouleau, Minister Delegate for Transport and Minister responsible for the Metropolitan Area and the Montreal Region

“I can only congratulate my colleague, Minister Julien, on this announcement. It will contribute to the advancement of transport electrification as well as the circular economy. These are key solutions for developing a green and prosperous economy. Once again, we see our government’s unprecedented efforts to fight climate change and to preserve the quality of our environment.”

– Benoit Charette, Minister of the Environment and Climate Change

“We are very proud to take this new step today. The Technoclimat grant has accelerated development of this pilot plant and brings us closer to our objective of deploying a made-in-Quebec solution for recycling lithium-ion batteries. We are grateful to the Government of Quebec for its support. Today is the day to envision and to develop the technologies of tomorrow that will enable us to position ourselves in this sector with enormous potential.”

– Benoit Couture, President of Lithion Recycling

Highlights:

Lithion’s pilot plant will have an annual capacity of 200 tonnes of lithium-ion batteries, equivalent to 300 to 650 electric car batteries.
In developing its process, Lithion Recycling has benefited from the support of its partners, including:
- Engineering consulting firm Seneca, which has expertise in developing industrial transformation processes;
- The Centre d’études des procédés chimiques du Québec (CEPROCQ) (Quebec centre for chemical process studies);
- Call2Recycle;
- Hydro-Québec’s Centre of Excellence in Transportation Electrification and Energy Storage.
Batteries can contain lithium, cobalt, or nickel. These are critical and strategic minerals in Quebec and are in high demand. A government study is currently underway regarding Quebec’s place in the development of critical and strategic minerals.
The Technoclimat program supports innovation in energy and the reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in Quebec.